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On the 4th of July I popped open a test bottle. It's a very white-grapey sparkling wine, and it has enough pressure to pop the cork nicely. I have sixteen more bottles, three of which have the Brew Glitter. I'm hoping aging it until next March will help the taste.

I've been buying from Home Brew Ohio on Amazon. I also keep it simple with just one yeast, and it's EC-1118. It's a fairly well on the hot side, but it tolerates a wide range of temperatures.

I've been brewing with 4 gallon plastic buckets, and between the extra space for wine to oxidize and my desire to limit the use of sulfates, I've been losing about a quarter of my batches. It doesn't help that I blend my fruit to extract the juice, which means it takes longer in secondary to...

My very first wine, about 18 years ago, was a crapshoot of the worst practices. I bleached and thoroughly rinsed a laundry bag and twisted it to crush the grapes and get the juice. I didn't have a carboy, so I used a wide tupperware container. I didn't have an airlock, so I siliconed a copper...

I was sitting here, sipping my Jalapeno-Orange wine after drinking a dunkelweizen, and it suddenly dawned on me the stuff tastes like an IPA! I wasn't too crazy about the dryness, and I'm more of a porter/stout drinker than an IPA aficionado, but it's growing on me.

If you look at my notes above, I used pectic enzyme, screened it to secondary, used bentonite, and then sparkolloid to get it clear. I knew it was going to be difficult to clarify. Also, I added 8 cups of sugar for 4 gallons, but probably should have backsweetened with another 2 cups. I already...

I bottled my jalapeno-orange the day before yesterday. It clarified nicely, but isn't as hot as I hoped. It's pretty dry, so I renamed it "Desert Sun". Here's the rest of my notes: 20210413 Racked, very clear Lost one gallon to sediment Bottled one bottle as-is Added 1 tbsp...

Stirred daily. I was busy this weekend so I haven't had a chance to rack it yet.

My cherry-jalapeno last year turned out less spicy than I wanted. In February I ended up with a bunch of oranges that needed used, so I started a batch of orange-jalapeno with an intentionally large number of jalapenos. I bottled up a bunch of cider yesterday, and tomorrow I'm planning on...

In my experience, boiling the must causes bad pectin haze. If I simmer short of boiling, it doesn't haze as bad. Pouring boiling water onto the fruit seems to be a good compromise. Just be sure and mash that fruit as well as you can to extract more of the juice and flavor.

#1 crush strawberries in bucket #2 add boiling water ( kills wild yeast & bacteria, breaks down cell structure) #3 add 1 campden tablet per gallon #4 pour in sugar while hot water is in bucket to obtain 1.095 which = 14% alcoholic #5 cover with a permable cloth and let sit overnight to cool...

Most people top their carboys off with water. Using a hydrometer to measure and add some sugar helps keep the specific gravity in the range you want.

I use 5 gallon buckets for both primary and secondary fermentation. To start, I use 1 campden tablet per gallon of wine. The first racking I don't put any campden tablets in, but every other racking I put half as many campden tablets as gallons of wine. An airlock is a must. You do risk losing...

Also, I will be using Lalvin EC-1118 yeast. It's my go-to yeast and I already have it on-hand. I just ordered 750mL champagne bottles, plastic corks, wire cages, and a corker from Home Brew Ohio - $88 shipped. I seriously considered the gold foils.

Please critique my plan: Our youngest just celebrated her 20th birthday, and for her 21st birthday she asked if I'd make a wine for her. I know she prefers white to red, and she likes sparkling wine. After reading NTexBrewer's post about Glitter Sparkling Wine, I've decided that's my goal, but...

If you have an airlock on it, it's safe to let it sit. I typically rack my wines every two months, and I usually have four or five wines in secondary. Once they stop dropping sediment I bottle them. It usually takes a couple rackings.

I would try simmering the ingredients for an hour or a few on the stove - don't let it boil or it'll get cloudy. Let it cool, add campden tablets, wait 24 hours, then pitch the yeast. Don't bother reheating after that. Punch the must down daily. Since you don't have a hydrometer, when the must...

So, is a double-shot of pectic enzyme in order? Should I carefully pour the four gallons of wine back into a clean fermentation bucket and add 4 tsp of pectic enzyme, and then wait a month to check and possibly re-bottle? https://blog.eckraus.com/clear-pectin-haze-pectic-enzyme

Aww, crap. My daughter asked me to make a batch of wine for her 21st birthday in March of 2022. I think you've set a high bar, and I'm tempted to aim for it. Now I need to find champagne bottles and a corker. Nice work, and thanks for sharing!

Here, I'll make it easier for you. I was losing one in every three batches before I started using campden tablets. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JMH97SK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I resisted using campden tablets for a while as well, but I'm glad I started. I'm not...